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Video Production

Vimeo v YouTube

So, Sous Productions have just produced you an amazing video production for your business but where are you going to host it? We take a look at two popular options.

While there are many sites on which you can host your company videos, two of the most commonly used are YouTube and Vimeo. So which is the best one for you?
Well it is not for me to say what is best for your particular business but I can highlight a few points which might be important to your thinking.

Key things to consider:

YouTube is free but as a business, to use Vimeo, you need to have a business account which comes with a small fee. As all my readers are in business I think we need to look at the following key points on that basis.

• Vimeo has a smaller audience than YouTube. Is that important to you?
• As you enter both sites, Vimeo has a distinctly more professional look and feel.
• Vimeo has no adverts.
• Vimeo allows you to pick literally any frame from the video as the placeholder. YouTube offers only three random choices.
• Vimeo does not tend to have any inappropriate videos presented alongside the video you are watching
• Vimeo videos are not thought to be ranked as highly as YouTube videos in internet searches.
• Vimeo does not currently allow you to upload a transcript or caption file like you can on YouTube.
• YouTube is considered the second most used search engine on the web so gets a lot of traffic and more people are likely to find your videos.
• YouTube displays other videos when your video finishes. These could sometimes be inappropriate to your viewers or maybe worse, they could be your competitor’s videos.
• YouTube and Vimeo both offer a whole range of very similar tools such as being able to add enhancements, view analytics, tailor the video player, embed and share your videos.
• They are both good but just approach the options slightly differently so for those elements it will really come down to which approach you prefer.
• Vimeo has a more extensive set of options for managing your videos such as Portfolios, Channels and Albums allowing you to adjust privacy settings and add branding and descriptions to them.

My personal conclusion:
YouTube does a great job for most companies and I really don’t think you could be without it if you are keen for your video to be found through internet searches.

YouTube is free so it is almost a no brainer. However, you will have to accept some consequences. Most importantly your video will sit within a massive database of videos from all corners of the world across all sorts of topics. Not all of them will be of the quality of yours!

If you are a company interested in projecting a professional brand presence then YouTube might sometimes give you palpitations like when the end frame of your video promotes the latest teenage prank or the hottest new gangster rap video or worse still, a video belonging to your competitor.

As a business, the monthly fee on Vimeo shouldn’t really be an issue. In return for the fee you really do get a lot of excellent benefits.

I find the general look and feel of Vimeo much cleaner and more professional. The video content presented on Vimeo is also typically of a higher standard. You have much greater control over how you organise and present your videos all of which helps you maintain brand control.

For me I have ended up using both products for specific reasons. I use YouTube for search ranking and for any video that needs captioning (also helps with SEO) but I use Vimeo to provide me with a more controllable visual presence for my videos when I provide clients with links to view a video or specific album.